Chlorine or halogen ion generation for a swimming pool has long been known as being useful for healthful and safe swimming. For example, chlorine mixed water is required of most municipal and public swimming pools in the United States and Canada. The chlorine level must be carefully regulated and adjusted if necessary in such public swimming pools to provide swimmers, including small children with a safe and healthful place to bath and swim.
Manual methods of adding chlorine to the swimming water are well known. The pool attendant take precautions to not get the chlorine directly on him/herself and then adds the proper amounts to the pool water. Various tests are done to the pool water to see ensure the proper concentration levels of chlorine are present. It is also well known that other halogen elements are used to treat pool water. For example, bromine, is also used in a similar to chlorine for safely cleaning pool water.
For many years, automated chlorinators have been known. The known automated chlorinators include means for testing the pool water to determine whether or not the appropriate level of chlorine or other halogen mixed in the water is present. For example, generally speaking, the testers look for levels of 2700 ppm. When the level drops below that level the automated chlorinator is activated and adds chlorine or other halogen to the water, increasing the level until the 2700 ppm is reached.
These chlorinators can be very expensive. For example, a common automated chlorinator can cost the consumer upwards of several thousands of dollars. Additionally, these expensive chlorinators are somewhat fragile and often need expensive repairs or even replacement.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,014,753 entitled Salt Chlorine Generator is specifically incorporated herein for all purposes, including, but not limited to it use as Background, antecedent basis and as a reference and an example of previously known devices. One of the inventors therein, then known as Joseph Hui, is the inventor herein.
At the heart of the modern automated chlorinator is an electrolytic cell. A typical such cell includes two electrodes, an anode and a cathode in a salt solution as described above with respect to the '753 patent. Once electrical power is applied to the electrodes, a chemical reaction begins. In a salt (NaCl) solution, the CI is stripped out and floats freely in the water, safely cleaning the pool water.
Above Ground Pool:
Unlike “in-ground” pools, above ground pools, there are few adaptations for installation of halogen generators or chlorinators. One reason is because such generators tend to be quite expensive and dramatically increase the cost of such a pool; whereas, even installation of an expensive halogen generator or chlorinator would not significantly increase the cost of an in-ground pool. Thus, almost all above ground pools are devoid of such cleaning and safety devices, as halogen generators or chlorinators.
What is needed is an inexpensive automated chlorinator, which does not require dramatically increase the cost of such an above ground pool, but works effectively and allows easy repair and replacement of the device as needed.